Damsel in Distress
by potNpaN
Summary: After Cinder saved her life, Emerald never needed anyone else to help her. She hated the fake sympathy that they always gave her... but when someone actually gets her... Actually understands... Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask for help every once in a while.
1. A Simple Mission

**A/N: Surprise! Ha, well, I just wanna thank miner249er for commissioning this chapter of Damsel in Distress! I hope y'all enjoy :)**

* * *

A nervous pit formed in Emerald's stomach, eating away at her, even when her face seemed set in stone. She stood, back straight as she looked at the door in front of her, preparing herself for when it opened. On the other hand as well as the other side of the room, Mercury lounged on one of the beds, fingers flicking through his scroll as he made various sounds as loud as he possibly could, probably to annoy her, his chuckles, sighs, and gasps sounding like they were going through a megaphone. She didn't let it show that it got to her though, except for her clenched fists, and her clenched teeth, and her clenched... well, everything else.

Okay, so maybe she's not being as subtle about it as she thought she was.

Her movements stilled as the door slid open, revealing her leader and savior, Cinder Fall.

Clasping her hands in front of her, Emerald bowed respectfully.

"Mistress." The word was short, but filled with reverence. There wasn't any doubt in Emerald's body that the person in front of her was the most important person in her world. The woman slid past Emerald's still bowed form, brushing her skirt and sitting on her bed, crossing her legs elegantly. Taking that as a silent signal to rise from her bow, Emerald turned, body stiff and at attention. Mercury on the other hand simply sat up on his bed, putting away his scroll, but not standing up.

Cinder ignored the both of them for a second, in deep thought about something that was no doubt important, Emerald was sure. Out of respect, the green-haired girl didn't say a word, patiently waiting for her leader to speak. When the beautiful woman didn't, Mercury decided to do so, ignoring his place in the team.

"How did everything go?" The tall boy asked rudely, ignoring Emerald's pointed glare. Cinder tilted her head to face him, eyes dancing with a mysterious light.

"It went." She said shortly, before shaking her head and letting out a remorseful sigh. "Unfortunately, making... 'friends' with the teams are harder than expected, with there being two teams and all. I decided to choose between the two." Her gaze sharpened as she turned her head to regard the other two in the room. "Which means that I need someone else to look into the team JNPR."

There wasn't even a second's pause between Cinder's last word and Emerald's first as the girl stepped forward, head raised high as she did so.

"I would be honored to do that for you." Mercury relaxed a little with the words, only having a second to prepare to stand up. It didn't really matter to him anyways, so long as the job was done. The same sentiment shared by Cinder, who nodded.

"Very well. I need you to earn their entire confidence." She pulled out a scroll, opening it up and pulling out JNPR's roster, looking through the people listed. Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. Considering the options carefully, Cinder was quick to draw lines through Pyrrha and Ren.

It wouldn't do any good for Emerald to approach the red-haired champion. She had to move with some caution, and becoming fast friends with the potential Fall Maiden candidate would attract the wrong type of eyes, defeating any purpose of getting close to the team. Ren also seemed very closed off, and not the type to talk to strangers, which would make it too suspicious for her subordinate to strike up a friendship out of the blue.

"Start with either Jaune Arc, or Nora Valkyrie." Cinder decided, turning the scroll around to display their faces. "Approaching them will garner the least amount of suspicion. You may choose which."

Emerald was quick to nod, kneeling down. "Of course. I'll make contact with them today." That earned a nod from the woman sitting in front of her.

"Very well. Make sure to report everything you find."

And with that, Cinder stood up, circling around the still kneeling girl and opened the door before pausing for a second, hand on the frame.

"Emerald." The name was almost a question, but more of a statement that made Emerald raise her head.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Do not disappoint me." Without waiting for a confirmation, Cinder drifted out, the door sliding behind her. Mercury slumped back down as her presence disappeared, pulling out his scroll and pulling up whatever he had been looking at before their leader had walked in, making a small noise of amusement. Emerald rose from her spot, her lips forming a thin line as she looked at her 'partner', thinking about the flippant attitude that he had while Cinder was in the room. It didn't last long before Emerald shook her head, brushing the irritation away. It didn't matter to her how Mercury acted. After all, it would only serve to push Cinder away from him, and closer towards finding favor with herself, which gave Emerald a slight thrill down her spine. With earning Cinder's favor in mind, Emerald decided that now was just as good of a time as any to work on infiltrating team JNPR. The earlier the better, and it would definitely be better than staying in here and getting into an inevitable shouting match with the idiot in the room.

No words passed between them as Emerald left the room, the door closing silently behind her.

* * *

Finding her targets was easy enough.

Pausing briefly as Emerald walked into the lunch room, her vision lasered towards her targets, finding team JNPR sitting together with team RWBY, all of them chatting amicably. Walking towards the lunch line, the girl barely paid any attention to the lunch ladies, grabbing some food and sitting slightly close to the teams, having found an empty spot. Almost robotically, Emerald began to eat as she listened in on the two teams' conversations.

"-And then there's the Vytal Tournament, which is kind of cool!" One of the girls from the other team said, a small brunette that looked a little younger than everyone else on the team. Ruby Rose, if Emerald was remembering the name correctly. "What do you think Jaune? You guys going to fight in the tournament?"

Jaune Arc, a blond, scraggly looking boy with what looked like no sense of confidence raised his head up from his lunch, which looked to be a number of chicken nuggets, as well as some chocolate milk. Emerald couldn't help but shake her head in derision at the juvenile choices.

"O-of course we are Rubes." Jaune nodded, looking uncertainly at his partner, who smiled encouragingly at him. "And with Pyrrha, we're probably going to go pretty far." Ruby snorted, crossing her arms smugly.

"Well, Pyrrha's only one person. Team RWBY's going to win it all!" The girl's blonde teammate grinned nodded along with her.

"That's right Vomit Boy. You better pray you guys don't meet us in the tournament." The blonde, who was Yang, Emerald reminded herself, punched her hand, a fire lighting in her eyes. "We'd make quick work of you."

Another round of teasing caused Jaune to sink in his seat a little lower, trying to fold into himself. Again Emerald shook her head at the pathetic display.

"Come on guys, don't be so mean on Jauney." Nora stood up, speaking loudly. "He may not be the strongest of Huntsman, but he's our Supreme Leader, and you know what that means?" No one said anything, sure that Nora was going to answer her own question. "It means that we'll knock the socks off of you guys!"

Emerald wasn't sure how those two things were linked to each other, but brushed it away as she continued to profile the short girl. She exuded confidence, hands placed on her hips as she tilted backwards, her head thrown upwards as she let out a roaring laugh. Yang was quick to rise to the bait, challenging her on how what she had just said made any sense. The two of them went back and forth at each other until the bell for the end of lunch rang, signaling that it was time to go to the next class.

With all the evidence gathered, Emerald made an easy decision on which to approach first.

* * *

From what others had said, Emerald made her way towards the library later that day, pretending to browse for a book on the shelves as she made her way closer and closer towards the table that her target was sitting in.

Blonde hair was the first thing that Emerald saw, ruffling as the person leaned back quickly, a laugh leaving them. Another quick perusal of the shelf in front of her allowed Emerald to move onto the next shelf, granting her clear vision of the table.

Nora leaned close to Yang, eyes narrowed, a huge grin on her face as she did so.

"I don't believe you."

The blonde girl leaned back casually, hands crossed underneath her head. "Believe it, sister. Ursa, Beowulf, psh." Yang waved a hand around. "I can match them, punch for punch."

Nora rolled her eyes. "Ursa can't punch, silly. But that's not the point!" She leaned even closer, her feet almost completely off of the floor. "There's no way that you're stronger than me." Yang leaned in closer, until both of their noses were a hair away from touching.

"Believe it."

Emerald smiled at the scene, knowing that she had made a good choice. The fact that Nora was so strong, along with the fact that it was probably going to be easier for her to talk to a girl made the choice way easier than talking to the limp noodle that was team JNPR's leader.

"How could you possibly think that?!" Nora grabbed her weapon off her back, unfolding it into an intimidating hammer that was bigger than the girl holding it. She waved it around with a casual strength that would've intimidated Emerald, if she could actually be intimidated by these children. "You don't even use a smash-y weapon like mine! You barely need any strength to use something that's attached to you." Nora said dismissively, sitting back down, the hammer staying in its form as she leaned it against her leg, chair, arm, and body.

"It's not about the size, sweetheart." Yang said lazily, unfolding her gauntlets and casually checking the weapons. "It's about how you use them." She grinned at the girl sitting across from her. "You couldn't handle Ember Celica if you tried."

"You wanna bet?"

There was a pause as the two of them stared unblinkingly at each other, before Yang carefully removed Ember and laid them on the table, sliding them over to the ginger girl. A grin spread across Nora's face as she grabbed the two weapons, fiddling with the clasps and sliding them onto her wrists, raising them up afterwards and inspecting them closely. Yang sat there waiting impatiently for Nora to do something.

Emerald decided that now was a good time to introduce herself, taking a step towards them before Nora jumped out of her seat, the chair clattering to the ground as she let out a mad cackle.

"Ha ha! You've fallen into my trap!" Nora declared, grabbing Magnhild and placing another hand on her hips. Yang made a confused sound.

"What're you talking about—Oh shoot." A blast echoed through the room as Nora let out a shotgun blast from Ember Celica, Yang's Aura flaring as she flew across the library. Another cackle escaped Nora's mouth as she hefted her giant hammer, holding it above her head with both hands.

"Ultimate POWER!" The insane girl screamed, before chasing her quarry.

Emerald just watched as the library fell apart in front of her eyes, blinking stupidly as the sight in front of her.

Without another word, the mint-haired girl twirled around and headed out of the half destroyed library.

* * *

Emerald growled under her breath, having just seen that her first choice of a target was absolutely bonkers. It sent her back to the drawing board, and with the sight of the sunset, Emerald knew that the only information she would be able to give to her leader was that the N of team JNPR was insane.

That wasn't viable information. That wasn't even helpful to Cinder. And that meant that Emerald was going to have to suffer the woman's look of disappointment, something that the orphan always hated seeing. She wanted to impress Cinder. Make her proud of Emerald.

That thought alone kept Emerald from going back to the team room, instead wandering through the halls of Beacon, her mind swirling, trying to find some way to recoup this to the woman who was probably waiting for Emerald to report some sort of success to her.

Before she knew it, Emerald found her way on the roof of Beacon, surrounded by stars and the broken moon above. She looked up, a small smile forming on her face. She loved the stars. Growing up afraid and alone meant that they were the only company she ever had, which wasn't the worst company to have, really. At least the stars weren't abusive and manipulative, like everyone else Emerald had ever met.

"They're pretty, aren't they?"

The girl turned, surprised that someone else was on the roof with her. Red eyes met blue as Emerald found herself in the company of her second target.

"Yeah, they are." She said the words calmly, hiding the delight in her voice of finding him. Destiny had given her a second chance.

Jaune smiled before turning away from her, walking towards one of the rails, leaning on it as he looked out towards the horizon. A second of hesitation passed before Emerald followed him, hanging a little further back, trying to think of something to say to him. Instead, it was the blond noodle that spoke first, catching her off guard once again.

"Looking at the sky's always been a good way for me to get my mind off of things." Jaune said, a tinge of angst in his voice. "Just looking at... at how vast the sky is makes all your problems feel so small, don't you think?"

Emerald thought that sounded idiotic, to be honest. But that wasn't going to help her make friends with the boy, so instead she nodded, as genuine of a smile as she could muster appearing on her face.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool."

She didn't know if it was how she phrased it, or if she had accidently let out her true thoughts with her tone of voice, but Jaune's shoulders bunched up, the boy turning around to look at Emerald sheepishly.

"Sorry. You probably just want to be left alone, don't you?"

"No." Emerald was quick to correct him, not wanting him to leave. "No, I... I think it's nice to have someone around." Jaune nodded, a relieved smile on his face as he turned back around.

"So what's bothering you?" The boy asked, making sure that it came across as a polite question, and something that Emerald could decline to answer if she wanted to. That wasn't really going to help her though, so her mind raced to think of something.

"I want to impress my team leader." She blurted out, deciding that a bit of truth in her lies was going to be the safest bet. It always was, and it always helped to keep her lies straight. "And she expects a lot out of me." She turned to look at the stars again. "I grew up alone, only having myself to take care of, to depend on." She looked down at the railing. "Sometimes it's nice to be away from her, if only for a little while." She found what she said to be true, to her own surprise.

Cinder had been her savior, and Emerald owed her life to the woman. But she was all work and no play, and worked both her and Mercury to the bone. It was worth it sometimes, but most of the time... Most of the time it was good to have some time to relax.

A laugh interrupted her train of thought, making her turn to her present company, who had a small smile on his face.

"What's so funny?" She demanded, her eyebrows drawing together, frustration building as she realized that she had inadvertently let herself to vulnerable, even if it was only for a second. Jaune shook his head, holding out his hands in a small gesture to ask for forgiveness.

"Sorry, I just think it's funny to find someone who came up here to be alone... but have the complete opposite background as me." Jaune said, making Emerald blink at the information. "I grew up with seven sisters." Jaune explained, making the girl recoil backwards at the number. "Yeah, that's most people's reaction." Jaune let out another laugh. "So it's just really nice to find a place to be alone, away from all of the... company. Present company excluded, of course."

Emerald chuckled at that, finding herself amused, something that she hadn't expected.

"Seven sisters huh? That must've been fun." Emerald said, deciding that it would be good enough of an icebreaker.

"You have no idea." Jaune shook his head. "Do you know how hard it is to get new clothes instead of my sisters' hand-me-downs? It wasn't fun, let me tell you."

"Hand-me-downs? Like... blouses? And skirts?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. All of that stuff. But hey, I rocked every single outfit." Jaune struck a pose, getting another laugh from Emerald. "But what about you? I know you said you were alone, but did you have any clothing fiascos?"

Emerald's laughter died a little as he reminded her of her past. The night alone. Hungry. Paranoid that someone would kill her, just to rob what little she had, or to free up some space on the streets, or just because they could.

"I'm sorry."

The words cut her away from her thoughts, and she found herself looking at a concerned Jaune. The look sent a bolt through her heart, making her uncomfortable as she backed away.

"About what?" Emerald didn't mean for it to sound so harsh, but she was caught off guard by the face that the noodle was making. Jaune shook his head, turning away.

"Sorry. I just saw how hurt you looked and I thought that I should apologize for stepping on a sensitive subject."

Emerald was annoyed. Yes, annoyance. That was a safer emotion than whatever she had felt a second before.

"Don't be. It was a harmless question."

"It didn't seem harmless to me."

"Well it was!" Emerald shouted out, Jaune's mouth clicking shut. The green-haired girl drew in a breath, releasing it slowly, shakily.

"Sorry. Look, it doesn't really matter, okay? Besides, the past is the past, and I'm in a better place now, thanks to my leader."

Jaune was quiet, eyes flickering with something that Emerald couldn't place, and wasn't sure she wanted to place even if she could. In the end, Jaune decided on finding the safest subject to broach.

"Your leader sounds amazing."

Emerald nodded, happy that they were on a less touchy subject. "She is. She's the greatest. It's why I want to make sure I do what I can to make her happy."

Jaune let out a small noise of understanding, nodding to himself before turning to look at the twinkling stars again. "And what can you do to make her happy?"

Thoughts swirled around as she tried to find the best answer.

"She's happy when... when I find friends, I guess." Emerald said, feeling awkward saying it out loud. The half-lie worked though, making Jaune turn hopefully towards her.

"Well, maybe she'll be happy to know that you've made a new friend?"

Tilting her head, Emerald crossed her arms, smirking a little as she found delight in _finally_ getting the conversation headed the way she wanted it to.

"What, are you talking about you?" Jaune nodded, the light flickering doubtfully in his eyes, her words causing worry to worm into him. Emerald let him squirm for a bit as she pursed her lips, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know about that, I mean, I don't even know your name. And you don't even know mine!" She snapped her fingers, as if she just came across the fact.

"My name's Jaune. Jaune Arc. Sweet, short, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it." Jaune raised his hand, offering her a handshake.

Emerald raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure they do. Emerald Sustrai." She gripped his hand tightly.


	2. A Flip Flop of Emotions

**A/N: Wow there's a lot of snow right now. Fun fun fun to be in this weather. Blegh. Still, I debate on whether or not I should venture out and drive now... Eh, we'll figure it out. Anyways, here's the next chapter, I hope y'all enjoy :)**

* * *

Cinder sat at the dorm desk facing the window, the light streaming in and illuminating her face as she picked up a glass of smuggled wine, sipping it quietly as she waited. It wasn't much longer before the door to the room slid open, revealing one of her subordinates walking through.

"You're late." She said, not even bothering to turn around. It didn't take a genius to know who she was talking to, seeing as how Mercury was already sitting on the bed, a nasty smirk on his face as he waited for something to happen to Emerald.

The two words were enough for Emerald to feel a chill down her spine, and without any hesitation the girl bowed deeply as the door closed itself.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Emerald made sure to be as respectful as possible, not wanting foul Cinder's mood any further. "I was just making contact with the enemy, and it took a little longer than I thought it would."

The woman still did not turn to face her, swirling the wine slowly as she hummed in thought.

"And how did that go?"

"I-I think it went well." Emerald said falteringly, head still bowed, hoping that would be enough for Cinder. Mercury, the delight that he was, stepped in to help.

"You thought?" He asked, derision in his voice. "That doesn't sound very confident to me."

Emerald rose up, her glare sharpening at his words. "At least I'm doing something productive," She snapped, taking a step towards the boy. "How was your day? You finally beat that high score on your stupid game?" The grey-haired boy only laughed, crossing his arms.

"It's cute how you think that means anything. _I'm_ not the one that's supposed to be doing something. I'm staying here so that when Cinder tells me to do something, I'll do it." The boy snorted, shaking his head. "And I won't just _think_ I did it either."

"You ass-"

"Enough."

The woman slowly swiveled around, the single word uttered quietly slicing through the argument, causing the two of them to step backwards and shut their mouths. She waited, watching the two of them to see if either would say anything, to see if either of them were foolish enough to go against her word.

Neither of them did.

Satisfied with their submission, Cinder gestured at them to take a seat, gathering her thoughts as she did so.

"Mercury, please do not antagonize Emerald," Cinder commanded, getting him to cross his arms and nod solemnly. "I don't care to hear it, and it detracts from our mission. If anything starts, _I_ will be the one to finish it."

The silence that followed afterwards was all the confirmation that Cinder needed from the two of them.

"Excellent." Turning her attention towards Emerald, Cinder continued to speak. "While Mercury didn't need to point it out in such a juvenile way, what he has said is correct." Her eyes flashed as she raised the wine glass to her lips. "We are running on a schedule. Make sure you are not behind it."

"Of course, Cinder." Emerald said, swallowing in hopes that it would keep the shaking out of her voice. The woman nodded at the green-haired girl.

"That is all I'm going to say about it for now." Cinder paused, her gaze turning to Mercury, before turning back to her. "Do _not_ disappoint me."

* * *

The feeling of doubt and fear that had wormed its way into Emerald's stomach wasn't a new feeling. It followed every time she failed Cinder, or did something that looked like it was going to fail Cinder, or when she thought of failing Cinder.

It was like welcoming an old friend.

Still, it wasn't a good feeling, and Emerald sought to drive it away the next morning by taking a walk in between classes, Beacon giving their students some time between classes to relax and rejuvenate. Or, if you were a procrastinator, hurry up and finish last night's homework then.

The academy's grounds were as peaceful as ever, big enough that even with the dozens of students on it, they were all spread out enough that there wasn't much sound to carry over, lending the grounds with the illusions of a park, only helped with the numerous benches and garden-work. Sitting down on a nearby bench, Emerald relaxed as the sunlight hit her skin, a small smile stretching out on her face.

When she opened her eyes again though, a small frown rested on her face as she looked at everyone else enjoying the day.

What idiots. Weren't they supposed to be the future guardians of Remnant? Didn't they realize how much pressure was going to rest on their shoulders, how many lives they would hold in their hands? How could they just wander around and have so much fun when they knew what was at stake?

Emerald scoffed to herself silently, mentally shaking her head. She wasn't sure why she felt so ashamed of them. Maybe because she knew that in the end, it really wouldn't matter after Cinder had her way with Beacon.

She supposed that she could let them have their days of fun if it meant that things would be easier for her leader afterwards.

Thinking of her leader brought her mood down even further, Emerald giving up on trying to relax and standing up, huffing out a frustrated breath. Tossing her hair back, she headed back into the academy. Just because the students of Beacon were allowed to slack off didn't mean that she could, after all.

* * *

After quickly changing out of her school uniform and strapping her weapons onto herself, she went out to find an empty training pit. It didn't take long, seeing as how it was a Friday night, and most students weren't really keen on doing anything by themselves just as the weekend started.

The training room were simple, but efficient in their design. The pit was located in the center of the room, actually sloping down so that it made its own walls, protecting spectators from any wayward effects, like projectiles and Dust. The girl slid across and pressed a button on a panel before jumping down, landing softly on the ground.

Emerald turned her head side to side, a few satisfying pops allowing her to relax as she drew out her weapons, admiring them for a second before falling into a practiced stance, keeping the weapons held in front of her as she waited for the practice routine she had selected a few moments ago to fall into place. Without warning, a target dropped from above her, the only noise it made was a tiny _click_ as it fell.

That was plenty for the girl, who spun around and fired a round, not even bothering to confirm the hit before she spun again, firing off another shot as another target fell. The ground below her shifted as a target popped up, a change in pace that Emerald had accounted for, slashing through the cheap target with ease.

The room exploded into motion as she continued to work on the targets, her body a whirl of motion as she did so, the noise almost harmonious as she made to hit every target that she could sense. She didn't hit all of them, but was very capable of hitting most targets. Still, every time she missed a shot, her hands would falter just a little, missing another target before she gathered up her mind and restart her hit streak.

This went on for another few minutes before Emerald thought she felt movement outside of the ring. Her heart jumped a little at the thought of being watched, her mind racing to try and figure out who would be taking the time to do so.

It could be Mercury, who she didn't get along with, but knew that working together was important and was there to make sure Emerald was still in her top form. On the other hand, it could also be Cinder, who was making sure that she was at the top of her form because Cinder demanded that from everyone who worked under her. Either one helped spur her on further, the girl narrowing her eyes as she pulled out all stops. It... sort of showed, she supposed.

Nevertheless, the exercise finished with a loud ring from the top of the room, Emerald taking that signal to sheathe her weapons, turning to whoever it was that was watching her.

Blue eyes watched her carefully, a small smile framing Jaune in an expression that Emerald wasn't able to place. Jutting out her hip, she cocked her head to the side, ignoring the burning in her lungs.

"You stare at random girls often?"

The words brought a blush to Jaune's cheeks as he reared back, eyes growing wide.

"I-uh, well, I wasn't really s-staring..." Jaune seemed to shrink into himself, glancing away as he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. Emerald snorted, half in amusement and half in disgust at the display.

Emerald stayed silent long enough for the boy to gather his thoughts and speak in coherent sentences, something that both parties seemed to benefit.

"I didn't mean to stare. I'm just surprised to find someone else training when it's a Friday night." Jaune explained, small gestures accompanying his words. Emerald tilted her head to the side, surprised that the bumbling boy could make such a connection. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, huh? Shrugging in response, Emerald strode out of the pit, brushing past him as she pulled up her score, a small frown forming on her face.

"Contrary to popular beliefs, I didn't really have anything to do today, and a little bit of practice never hurt anyone." Emerald sighed, shaking her head as she turned the screen off, reminding herself to work a little more, knowing that the results weren't up to her standards.

"Oh," Jaune let out a bit of nervous laughter, fidgeting as he stood a few feet away from the red-eyed girl. "Me too. I mean, I'm the same." He ended the sentence with another nervous chuckle.

Emerald wasn't sure what to say after that. The blond boy hadn't really given her an avenue to continue the conversation, and she wasn't really keen on talking with the boy in the first place. She knew that it was her mission and all, but _gods_ he was the opposite of what she found to be interesting company.

 _Probably a good idea at this point to just cut my losses and leave,_ Emerald thought to herself. Maybe find a better time to confront the boy. Probably after she could plan her words, and a different personality for herself that would allow her to swallow her brain and pretend to be an idiot.

"Well, I guess I should get going." Emerald gave Jaune a tight smile as she headed out. The girl tensed up when he reached out, grabbing her arm. On reflex, Emerald spun around, her other hand grabbing his wrist and twisting it painfully to the side, making him gasp with pain as he knelt to try and alleviate the intense burning in his elbow and shoulder socket. Emerald let go just as fast as she had latched on, dropping his arm unceremoniously before crossing her arms.

"Sorry."

"I-it's alright." Jaune gasped, standing up shakily. "It's my fault for grabbing a Huntress's arm without any warning right?"

The girl stared at the boy, who was clearly in pain but didn't even think about pinning any of the blame on her. His actions confused her, which didn't really help her mission of trying to understand him at all. _He_ confused her, and that definitely caught her off guard, not really knowing how to respond to the boy at all.

"What do you want, Jaune?" Having had enough of the pussy-footing around, Emerald decided to just go with the straight approach, cutting out Jaune's options to slow down the conversation.

"I was going to ask—but I guess it really doesn't matter. It's just, well." Jaune coughed into his fist, averting his eyes before shaking his head. "Never mind."

Oh. My. God.

Cinder was going to have to face another disappointment.

Because Emerald was going to _kill_ this boy.

"Jaune."

The word hammered through the air, causing the boy to pause, blond bangs partially hiding his eyes.

"What do you want?" Emerald asked slowly, promising to herself that if he didn't answer again she was going to just leave. How could one boy be so different? He had shown a much better coherency on the rooftop. Sure, he was still soft spoken, but the words were clear, his intent was straightforward and honest, and speaking to him was just so much _easier_.

This Jaune wants to tell her something, but doesn't even have the balls to get a single sentence out.

It was infuriating.

"I just... well," Jaune froze as Emerald glared at him. "I just wanted to see if you were up for doing something is all!"

This time Emerald was the one who froze, surprise written clearly on her face.

"It's just, well, you said you were kind of free, and I'm not really doing anything either, so maybe we could hang out. You know, as friends." Jaune paused for a second, before he continued speaking, not really waiting for her to say anything. "I just thought that we had a good time speaking yesterday, and maybe we could continue... speaking." Jaune deflated, looking away. "You know what, never mind, it was a stupid idea anyway—"

"Sure."

"And I guess doing homework on a Friday night isn't the _worst_ —" Jaune paused, his hearing catching up to his brain. "Wait, what?"

Emerald gave him a simple shrug. "Sure, sounds like fun." It really didn't, but at this point, if she was going to have to be stuck dealing with him, there had to be _some_ information that she could squeeze out.

"Oh. Uh, cool."

Emerald nodded, really hoping that Jaune wasn't going to be so... Jaune if she was going to hang out with him.

"So, you have anything in mind?" She asked conversationally as the two of them left the training rooms. Jaune looked at her sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, which was a good enough answer on its own.

Emerald put her hand on her face, hoping that Jaune was dense enough not to notice the look of annoyance that crossed it.

"Okay then, how about we just get to Vale and go from there?" Jaune looked at her with hopeful eyes, desperate for her not to leave. The girl sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"What's the worst that can happen..."


End file.
